§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence at what level of command authorisations for low-level jet flights between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am are required to be taken; and what records are maintained of(a) requests for low-level flights in this time period and (b) authorisations granted.
§ Mr. HanleyRequests for fast jet low flying sorties between the hours of 2300 and 0700 must be made at least 30 days in advance and require the authorisation of Ministry of Defence Air Staff at the appropriate level depending on the nature of the request. The requests and the responses to them are held on departmental files, but separate records are not maintained.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the RAF Support Command list of approved low flying turning points.
§ Mr. HanleyThere is no such list.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was title and purpose of the exercise involving night low level parachute dropping from a US Air Force C-5 aircraft from RAF Brize Norton and RAF St. Mawgan between 2 and 14 November 1992; how many low-level sorties(a) during the day and (b) at night were carried out by the aircraft; what was the (i) earliest and (ii) latest time of the day at which low level sorties by the aircraft were booked; and what were the locations of the parachute drop zones used.
§ Mr. HanleyThe exercise held between 2 and 14 November 1992 was called Bitter Bust and was a joint US/UK forces exercise. During the exercise five low level sorties were flown by C-5 aircraft; three during the day, and two at night. The earliest low level sortie began at 1426, and the latest was completed by 1910. These aircraft carried out two parachute drops during the exercise, both over military training areas; one over Salisbury plain and the other over Weston on the Green.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the measures introduced as part of the citizens charter to improve the responses of his Department to complaints about low flying aircraft.
§ Mr. HanleyMy Department's contribution to the citizens charter has included the introducation of a target time of four weeks for response to complaints received from members of the public about low flying, in other than exceptional cases.
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§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if Jaguar and Tornado aircrew assigned to operational duties over(a) Bosina and (b) Northern Iraq are required to qualify or re-qualify to fly at 100 ft above ground level prior to deploying from their bases in the United Kingdom or Germany.
§ Mr. HanleyAll combat ready RAF fast jet aircrew, except Tornado F3 aircrew, are required to be current in operational low flying down to 100 ft. These aircrew may fly a small number of continuation training sorties before deploying to operational theatres overseas.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the individual low-flying areas which have been surveyed by the RAF police to assess requirements for changes to avoidance areas for low flying within the last three years; and if he will list the dates of the survey of each area.
§ Mr. HanleyThe individual low flying areas which have been surveyed by the RAF Police within the last three years, and the dates each survey was completed, are as follows:
- LFA 7 14 December 1990
- LFA 9 30 April 1991
- LFA 17 16 May 1991
- LFA 14 28 February 1992
- LFA 12 3 July 1992
- LFA 13 19 August 1992
- LFA 1 27 May 1993
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what consideration has been given to opening the airspace of the highlands restricted area to all air operators during the summer months;
(2) what consideration has been given to permitting civil aircraft to enter the highlands restricted area when no military aircraft have booked to use it.
§ Mr. HanleyArrangements already exist for civil aircraft to enter the highlands restricted area, provided that details of the proposed flight are passed to the tactical booking cell at RAF West Drayton in sufficient time to permit military users to be informed of the activity. The arrangements obtain at all times when the area is open to military aircraft.
Mr. LlywdTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those aircraft types in United Kingdom military service which are not fitted with a radar altimetre.
§ Mr. HanleyOf those aircraft in United Kingdom military service, Bulldog T1, Chipmunk, Dominie T1, Gazelle, Hawk T1, Islander, Jetstream, Tucano T1 and VC10 K2 aircraft are not fitted with a radar altimeter.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what factors are taken into account in the process of decision-making about the introduction of new or revised flow control measures in the United Kingdom low-flying system.
§ Mr. HanleyUnidirectional flow controls are established in the United Kingdom low flying system where aircraft may be constrained by narrow valleys or corridors formed by avoidance areas. Consideration may be given to introducing new or revised flow control measures where the introduction of additional avoidance areas further constrains the available airspace, with possible implications for flight safety.
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§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the rules are governing the use as simulated targets of features located in flow control areas of the United Kingdom low-flying system.
§ Mr. HanleyWhere features used as simulated targets are located in flow control areas of the United Kingdom low-flying system, the aircraft must be flown in compliance with the direction of the flow control.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what records are held of the numbers of flights over Germany by Royal Air Force aircraft at low-level since September 1990.
§ Mr. HanleyRecords for low-level flights over Germany by Royal Air Force aircraft between September 1990 and April 1992 are incomplete. Records held since April 1992, however, show that some 4,200 sorties have been flown by fast jet aircraft.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is the current policy on the maintenance of operational low flying qualifications by individual air crew following successful completion of their initial operational low flying qualification training.
§ Mr. HanleyAir crews qualified to conduct operational low flying (OLF) maintain currency by flying a minimum of four overland OLF sorties, with a maximum of six in any six-month period and a maximum of 10 in any 12-month period. OLF currency is valid for six months. Lapsed currency may be regained by Tornado IDS crews flying five OLF sorties, and by Jaguar and Harrier pilots flying four OLF sorties. OLF sorties conducted over the sea do not contribute to the maintenance of OLF currency.
§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the number of complaints about low flying received from addresses in each of the numbered low flying areas of the United Kingdom during 1992.
§ Mr. HanleyThe information requested is as follows:
Low flying areas Numbers of complaints or inquiries 1 160 2 916 3 11 4 436 5 467 6 432 7 904 8 255 9 81 11 475 12 272 13 23 14 504 16 486 17 594 18 228